A Terra Nova Christmas
by ebi pers
Summary: Sweet little story about Mark and Maddy, all grown up, married, and putting up a Christmas tree with their daughter. Much better than this summary for sure. Full info inside. Happy Holidays, everyone!


**A/N: Hey everyone! I was going to update my Mark/Maddy songfics but my muse took me in a Christmas direction so I decided to give you all this Christmas present: a sweet little Mark/Maddy futurefic in which they are a married couple enjoying putting up their Christmas tree with their four-year old daughter Adelaide. Obviously, heavy artistic license has been taken here. I hope you won't begrudge me for it! Merry Christmas and remember: the best gift you can give me is a review! **

**PS: I'll be updating the other story soon as well! **

"Is that our tree?" the four-year old girl squealed with excitement as she watched her father dragging a fir tree towards the family's porch.

"It would seem so, sweetie," her mother told her from her seat by the railing.

The girl was off the porch in a flash, running up to greet her father. "Daddy!" she yelled. Her father dropped the tree at the sight of her, lifting her up and sitting her on his left shoulder.

"Hi, sweetheart!"

"Is that our tree?" the little girl asked hopefully.

"Sure is!" he told her, his voice carrying the same tone of excitement.

"Can we decorate it?"

"Of course we can!"

His wife joined them now, greeting him with a gentle kiss on the cheek. "How was work?" she inquired.

"Same, old, same, old," he replied with a grin. "Shoot a dino, respond to a disturbance call, shoot another dino, come home."

"Life in the security forces?"

"Yep. How was your day?" he asked.

"Not too bad," she responded mildly. "With Christmas a week away, everyone in the lab was reluctant to take on any new assignments so we're in a bit of a lull 'til after the holidays. Although we did manage to develop a cure for that disease that's been killing off all of the poinsettias Commander Taylor had planted."

"That's good. Maybe we can go pick up a plant later."

Maddy hugged her husband. "I missed you, Mark."

He hugged her back. "I missed you too."

They were interrupted by their daughter's impatient calls from the doorway. "Can we put up the tree now? And decorate it?"

The couple smiled. "Of course we can, Adelaide," her mother replied. Mark retrieved the tree from where it lay and hauled it the rest of the way into the family's home.

"I cleared a spot for it right here," Maddy indicated a bare spot in the center of the living room where the coffee table had been, the piece of furniture now pushed against a wall. Mark stood the tree up in the center of the room, using wooden braces to keep it from falling over.

"There," he smiled, satisfied. Then he turned to his daughter. "Okay, we're all done Adelaide! Isn't it pretty?"

"Daddy!" the girl whined. "But we didn't put any lights or ornaments on it!"

Mark put his palm to his forehead, feigning surprise. "Of course! How could I forget? We need lights!" He retrieved the brightly-colored Christmas lights from their designated box in the closet and strung them up around the tree's branches. Then stepped back once more.

"Okay, all done, right?" Maddy bit back a smile as their young daughter glared, frustrated with her father.

"The ornaments?" she asked him.

"Hey don't look at me! I've done enough here—ornaments are your mother's department."

Maddy rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she fetched the ornament box. Adelaide marveled at the bright globes and the various shapes that represented the season—stockings, mistletoe, bells, doves, and of course: Santa Claus. Drawing them from the box one-by-one, she handed them to the little girl and told her to select a spot to hang them. With a little help from Mark, the tree was soon covered in vivid shades of red, gold, green, and purple. The multicolored lights winked on and off.

"It's beautiful!" the little girl gaped. "I can't remember my last Christmas."

"You were very young," Maddy told her. "I'm not surprised."

"Hey, we're missing something," Mark interrupted.

"What is it, dear? What are we missing?" Maddy looked ready to panic.

Mark held out the golden, star-shaped tree topper. "We're missing the topper!" he told her.

"Can I put it up? Can I put it up?" Adelaide came running. Mark hoisted her up so that she was perched on his shoulders again. The little girl stretched and slid the star into place atop the pine. Mark let her down and she stared in wonder. "It's so pretty!" she squealed delightedly, admiring her handiwork.

Mark put his arm around his wife. "It really is beautiful," he told her.

"Yeah," she agreed, resting her head on his shoulder. "But you know what comes next, right?"

"What?" he asked.

"Last minute Christmas shopping, preparing Christmas dinner, hanging up all the decorations, cleaning the house, getting ready for the family to come over…"

Mark held back his laughter. "Stop worrying, Maddy." He kissed her. "We'll get it done. Just relax. Enjoy our tree."

"You're right," Maddy conceded. Mark drew her in closer and they beamed as their daughter pranced around the tree, singing familiar Christmas tunes. "Everything can wait for now. Let's just enjoy the tree…"

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Review! Merry Christmas to you all! This was my gift to you. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'll be updating my Mark/Maddy songfics soon too, don't worry! There are no real plans to continue this story as of now, but if response is good then I may add on. So if you want more married Mark/Maddy and more of Adelaide, make sure you let me know in a review. Consider it a gift to me! Thanks and happy holidays! **


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